The long awaited Multitouch Technologies book authored by members of NUI Group (http://www.nuigroup.com) has officially found it’s first release! As one of the co-authors of the book, I am proud to see a final initial version come to fruition. The book, which consolidates articles from the NUI Group Wiki, includes sections on how to build Multi-touch devices, multitouch software resources, a glossary of terms and more. I  believe, as the book develops further, this will be the best resource for multitouch information on both the web and in print.

If you’re unfamiliar with NUI Group, I suggest reading the about page http://nuigroup.com/log/about/. NUI Group is currently the single best resource for multitouch technology and hopefully will become the largest database for Natural User Interfaces and emerging technology. If you’re interested in do-it-yourself hardware/software, HCI, or multitouch interaction, NUI Group is the place to be.

If you like the book, leave some feedback below! If you’d like to contribute to future sections of the book, you can get involved here: http://nuicode.com/projects/wiki-book

Download the Book |  Submit Feedback |  Join the Discussion

Well, it’s about time I released another application right? If anyone has ever played Bloom on the iphone, I’m sure you’ll recognize my port from iphone to table.

If you’re not familiar with bloom, it’s a very simple music creation application. Press anywhere on the screen to create circles that grow and ‘bloom.’ As they fade out and re-appear, they play a note. The note is based on the x-axis. As you move right, the notes go higher.

Click the above image to play

How to use:

-Press on screen (mouse, touch, multi-touch)
-Rollover/touch/click already created circles to remove them and their sound
-Press the upper left ‘clear’ button to clear all circles and sounds on screen.

Downloads:

Source Code: 

Bloom Source Code bloom_src.zip Version: 1

Author:	Seth Sandler
Date:	November 18, 2009
MD5 Hash:	37030ba99feb9663b98f0c755061bcca

1.2 MiB 24836 Downloads Details...

Binary Application:

Bloom Application bloom.zip Version: 1

Author:	Seth Sandler
Date:	November 18, 2009
MD5 Hash:	d4302be06f674dd3f68b7d38c52256d6

1.9 MiB 65160 Downloads Details...

The source folder should include everything you need to run the application. You don’t need to copy anything into your current AS3 directory. I’ve commented the Main.as file very well and it should give a good look into making simple applications with the AS3 Touch API.

Thanks to Christian for the background color tweening effect.

Check out my Bloom thread I started here: http://nuigroup.com/forums/viewthread/3867/

Check out olo:idea video below that shows the Bloom running on a large multitouch display.

Check out bassmang5 video below that shows the Bloom and my other applications running on his MTmini! You can see his post on NUIGroup here: http://nuigroup.com/forums/viewthread/3911/

Pictures from when my table was on display for a few days. I have larger pictures if you want specific ones. This post has a lot of pictures, so if they don’t all load, you may need to refresh this page.

New video of the new system that loads and unloads applications. Also, the desktop is now sending out OSC message to PureData to create some sounds based on finger number and position on screen.

New video showcasing the final table at work. The software is all a work in progress and new releases will be coming soon of all applications as well as new ones. If you like the video, please pass it on. If you don’t like the video, please pass it on anyway. Enjoy!

I went to home depot and picked out some wood that would be good enough for the inside framing of the table. I tried to get something light weight and sturdy. The main reasons for the frame is to keep the table sturdy and also make it so the walls of the table will be square, flush, and have something to screw into. I measured out all the pieces in google sketchup and then had someone at home depot cut the pieces to size.

Sketchup Top View

Sketchup Bottom View

Wood frame pieces. 1.5″ x 1.5″ x 33″ (left), 1.5″ x 3″ x 38″ (center), 1.5″ x 3″ x 26″ (right).

Another view of wood pieces.

The Built frame with top frame on top.

I don’t think it’s entirely necessary for cross beam support since the walls of the frame will provide the majority of the support. The frame is more for keeping the walls together and squaring up the sides. There’s probably better ways of doing this, but it should work for the my purposes.

Download: the Google sketchup file here.

From the Google sketchup file I created, I measured and fabricated the top frame that will hold the LEDs, acrylic, silicone (compliant surface), and projection layer. The top frame consists of two pieces; the top piece, which will fit the acrylic (in the center), along with the silicone rubber and projection material on top, and also the infrared LEDs alongside the acrylic and the bottom piece that will screw into the top piece and rest on top of the final box.

Top piece (left) and bottom piece (right)

View of the top and bottom pieces (with acrylic and LEDs sandwiched in between).

I bought two pieces of 4 foot x 8 foot x 1/2 inch thick hardboard at home depot for $15. I had them cut it to the right height and width to make things simple. I then cut out the center of each board to the size needed. For the top piece I routed out around the edge of the center where the acrylic would lay. Then I routed the horizontal sides farther out so the LEDs could fit inside the frame. I routed out a little more than 1/4inch of depth so that the acrylic would fit nicely and also so that the LEDs would have room to fit also.

Here’s the top piece laying upside down. It matches the sketchup pretty well.

Here you can see how the acrylic (and silicone) fit into the inner routed part and how the LEDs will eventually lay.

For the bottom piece, I cut the center out a little wider than the top piece. I did this to ensure the camera will be able to see the whole surface and also ensure the the top surface wasn’t obstructed by the bottom piece.

Here is the bottom piece. It looks pretty much like the top piece without the routed parts.

Once the LEDs are all soldered together and ready to be mounted in place. Both the top and bottom pieces will screw into each other creating a single top frame (like the second image below). There is about 1/4 inch from the top piece to the acrylic which seems to be a nice distance from frame to surface.

Here’s the top piece (top view) with the acrylic with tracing paper on top and the bottom piece underneath.

Check back for updates and more details about this construction. Feel free to ask questions.